The Approach

The Results

40% increase in clickthrough rate

106% increase in click volume

22% increase in number of London-based leads

Automation leads to better ads

As one of the UK’s largest property websites, Zoopla wanted to structure its paid search activity in such a way that its ads reflected the properties that were available across all areas of the UK, down to the specific postcode. With millions of monthly visitors and hundreds of thousands of properties available to rent or buy, it was clear that automation would be the only way to ensure that ads were always relevant and accurate.

The task of increasing the number of leads without increasing the cost per lead fell to Merkle | Periscopix, Zoopla’s digital marketing agency. Further goals included decreasing the spend in London in order to be able to extend the budget to other regions, while simultaneously lowering the overall cost per click by increasing the activity in niche locations where keyword competition was lower.

Showing relevant ads in real time with Google Search Ads 360

The first step was to make changes to Zoopla’s property feed so that it contained all of the required information, such as the number of properties available by location, number of bedrooms, and average property prices. It was then integrated with the inventory management feature of Google Search Ads 360, allowing the creation of dynamic ad copy reflecting current availability.

Search Ads 360’s inventory campaigns allow us to show the most relevant ad in real time across Zoopla’s entire property inventory. Not only have we been able to significantly improve account performance, it has allowed us to future-proof our paid search approach as Zoopla Property Group continue to grow their property portfolio, and ensured we are maximizing their click spend in the most efficient areas.

Vimal Badiani,
Head of Paid Search,
Merkle | Periscopix

Simplified campaign management

Search Ads 360 also offered custom variables and rules so the team could make changes to the feed in real time without the need for back-end development on the Zoopla property database. Meanwhile, the use of advanced templates for ads and keywords reduced the time required to build a campaign without compromising any granular detail.

Search Ads 360 allowed us to get our real-time data in front of our consumers, when that information is most useful to them. This helps us to achieve our goal of being the most useful property resource for consumers. This project also helped in delivering more qualified leads to our members. It contributed to significant performance improvements, while also supporting our data-first approach.

Vimal Badiani,
Head of Paid Search,
Merkle | Periscopix

Since campaigns are now created dynamically from information contained within the property feed, Zoopla’s optimizations are more efficient and no longer need manual updates. These changes have helped the team decrease budget spend on advertising for the London market by 17%, which means budget can be reallocated to other, previously uncovered regions. And despite the budget decrease in London, the number of leads in that market increased by 22%. Plus, the cost per acquisition dropped by 31% from the previous year, and the clickthrough rate for Zoopla’s ads went up by 40%.